Why Ott Tanak suffered a second WRC Rally Chile retirement

The 2019 world champion believes a “big change” is required to keep his World Rally Championship title hopes alive

Protecting his spare engine for a chance to fight for Super Sunday points is the reason behind Ott Tanak’s decision to retire from Rally Chile for a second time.

Tanak rejoined the rally after his Hyundai team fitted a spare engine to his i20 N Rally1 car overnight, following an engine failure during Friday’s stage six while leading the rally by 9.7s.

The two-time Rally Chile winner lit up the timing screens on Saturday morning as Tanak won the opening two stages, held in wet conditions, before deciding to retire the car again before stage nine.

Tanak explained the reason behind contesting the two stages was to check the engine and gather data ahead of Sunday’s four stages when a maximum of 10 points are on offer to crews, that will be crucial to Tanak’s World Rally Championship title bid.

The 2019 world champion headed into Rally Chile 18 points behind leader Elfyn Evans, who led Rally Chile after stage nine.

“By regulation you are allowed two engines per year,” said Tanak. “This is actually also the engine which we had a problem with in Sweden and it’s also not in a good shape.

Ott Tänak, Martin Järveoja, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Romain Thuillier / Hyundai Motorsport

“So it was already getting on the limit in these two stages. So yeah, we try to save it for Super Sunday and hopefully it can take us through four stages.

“We came back [today] not to damage the engine too much and have a good look at the data, have a good preparation for tomorrow and do everything we can from our side.”

Tanak admitted his title bid is “not great” after Friday’s engine failure and believes a “big change” in the championship battle will be needed to keep his hopes of a second title alive.

“Let’s see what the situation is after this rally,” he added. “Like I said, I will for sure do my best if I start the rally. It doesn’t really matter if it’s for the championship or is it for the rally.

“You always try to keep everything from your side. Otherwise, there is no point in going to the rally. So, some kind of excitement and motivation still needs to be there and that’s part of the job. Looking back to this season it will need a big change."

When asked about the bad luck he has experienced this year, he added, “It has absolutely nothing to do with luck.”